Neither plant nor animal, fungi inhabit a kingdom all their own. They are surprising and wildly diverse, ranging from the button mushrooms at your local supermarket, to yeasts, to shockingly colorful specimens that look like they could be from another planet—and they’re enjoying a moment, thanks to the hit documentary by director and cinematographer Louie Schwartzberg.

Inspired by Louie Schwartzberg’s groundbreaking documentary, here is a year of exquisite photographs that capture the wildly diverse and stunningly beautiful world of fungi–which are neither plant nor animal, but inhabit a kingdom all their own. There’s the Yellow Stagshorn, with its bright, fingerlike tendrils. The purple-capped Gymnopus sp. And the intricately grooved Black Morel. Accompanying the images are detailed captions packed with species information and fascinating facts: While a mushroom may not look like it’s doing much, it’s actually releasing about 30,000 spores from under its cap every second.